The plant was profitable and well-run, but Wall Street's relentless focus on short-term earnings demanded results.

Well not so much the Unions - Sure unions does make manufacturing a lot more expensive then say a non union shop just across the street . However comparing US to China is like Apples to Oranges for one thing in China the cost of living is far lower than the US and therefore can pay people a ridiculous low rate of pay <- its sorta relative.

Now Japan and even Taiwan is already reached their limits and now is out sourcing them selfs. China middle class is raising fast and they suspect in 10 years China it self will be out sourcing as well, maybe to Malaysia or even them 3rd world African countries ?

AnywayGetting rid of unions is not the answer - because even the non union shops cannot even come close to what over seas put out cost wise.

Yep. Thank the unions for eliminating sweat shops and child labor. Without the unions, we can go to work for just pennies an hour.

That arguement was good 80 years ago, but unions have outlived their usefulness.

Ford was paying guys 20+ an hour to turn a wrench 8 hours...crazy! They have finally been able to lower entry level pay to $15/hour.

The union hall has this big building with 2 full basketball courts. Paid for by union dues they extort out of the employees. (try working at a place like UPS/Ford and NOT join the union...good luck with that)

I worked for UPS for 2 years. Had to join the union. There was a lazy no good employee that UPS couldn't fire because of union bs

I have been a member of the teamsters, electricians, police, and another one in FL and I can honestly say that unions are past their prime.

Cost of living so high? Thank a union worker for driving up cost of the items you buy.

Is it any wonder that Mexicans can come to our country and do a better job at say roofing than your average American? Because we are lazy and expect things to be handed to us

Yeah,,, this has been "news" for several years now. Apple outsourced... just like nearly every other tech company.If you read Steve Jobs biography... Steve absolutely OBSESSED about his manufacturing plant in California. But then he was booted from the company and and when he came back he had to make some changes to keep things afloat.

I love some of these posters comments...

Quote:

I'd like to start out by saying I am not an Apple guy. I understand the attraction of the product line and wish those well that enjoy it but it just does not speak to me. That being said I have to stick up for them here. They are being singled out when pretty much every company making any tech products is getting them made overseas.

Quote:

This is why the US worker can't compete. The lazy Americans (reference to Perry's comment about Obama) are not only lazy, the are also spoiled. If we could simply outlaw the labor unions, lower the minimum wage to about a dollar an hour and bring back the sweatshops, complete with netting so that workers could not kill themselves by jumping from upper floors, we'd have a domestic competitive manufacturing environment right here in the United States. We wouldn't need to worry about health benefits or pensions. If the worker got sick we could beat them or fire them. Of course, the average worker, under the conditions mentioned in this article,would never live long enough to collect a pension so pensions would not be needed. And if the workers ever got up the nerve to organize into unions we could simply call in the Army and shoot them dead. Then we would be able to import hard working replacements from China. China sure sounds like a Proletarian Paradise, doesn't it? This approach would also solve our immigration problems. The US would be just like China and no one would want to come to the US for a better future. I've just put China on my ever growing "do not fly, do not visit" list!

Quote:

Get the timeline right... Before Steve Jobs came back to Apple in 1997 (ish), the company really was weeks away from going bankrupt. They moved production as cost-cutting measures when the competition was eating Apple alive. The "iPod factory sweatshops" also make computers for Dell, HP, and everyone else. I would love to see Apple change back to US manufacturing, but who knows if that will ever happen. I guess one positive is that Apple is the only computer company to successfully run retail stores (245 in the US) that all employ a bunch of people. At a time when more and more businesses rely on online sales (like Amazon's sweatshop warehouses), Apple is opening stores left and right with employees that seem happy to be there.

This one gives pause...

Quote:

Maybe you Apple Zombies didn't read the part about Apple having more cash than the Treasury. WAKE UP AMERICA. Apple is sucking the money out of this country, putting it in their banks and into China. Keep playing with your APPS till you are broke. Apple could employ American Works and still make a lot of Profit. This is what Occupy Wall Street is all about. Companies moving jobs overseas. How about At&t and Verizon. They all employ a lot of foreign workers instead of Americans. In the mean time Apple put all our record stores and book stores out of business too and again the money goes in their pockets. They don't give to charity or pay a dividend either. Keep supporting them if you want.

The article is designed to be inflammatory.. and it really shows itself with one of its last lines...

Quote:

To Stamp it's amazing to realize how quickly it all changed - how the door to so much opportunity and a secure future suddenly slammed shut after Apple began to subcontract out the making of its basic products and then shipped all the work to other countries. One day they had great jobs and the next day some were nomads, going from one employer to another, never knowing how long each job would last.

That last part is hilarious... that was years ago... and Apple is to blame for their having to be nomads...??W/E.

Apple is the new MicroSoft.. the giant at the top of the pile... everyone wants to topple them off.. and then it will be the next guys turn.

In the mean time Apple put all our record stores and book stores out of business too and again the money goes in their pockets.

I see the point.. but I would also point out that there is always the other side of the coin. I now no longer burn gas driving to the record store and i am glad there are less jewel boxes everywhere, especially going into the trash. As far as putting book stores out of business.. again, I am not burning gas driving to the bookstore AND all the tree huggers should be jumping for joy since this will greatly reduce the need for logging... and I gain space in my home by not having tons of paperbacks and periodicals laying around.Not to mention the ease of carrying all of the digital media items around now.... I remember being a student and LUGGING 40 pounds of books everywhere.

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